Tribe acquires infielder Sellers from Dodgers

To clear room on the 40-man roster, Cleveland designated first baseman David Cooper for assignment. Cooper -- signed to a Major League contract over the offseason -- would return to camp as a non-roster invitee for the Indians if he clears waivers.

Sellers, 28, has appeared in 82 games for Los Angeles over parts of the past three seasons, hitting .199 with a .278 on-base percentage and .301 slugging percentage. The right-handed-hitting infielder is most experienced at shortstop in the big leagues, but he has also logged time as a second and third baseman.

In 830 career Minor Leagues games, Sellers has hit .268 with a .353 OBP and .395 SLG, along with 51 home runs, 166 doubles, 361 RBIs and 460 runs scored.

"It's adding depth at the utility spot," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "We just want to try to make our organization better. I think [general manager Chris Antonetti] and those guys [in the front office] felt like this was an opportunity to do that."

The 27-year-old Cooper underwent an innovative and rare spinal-cord surgery last April, after suffering a herniated disk in his thoracic spine in a game with the Blue Jays in August of 2012. The left-handed hitter posted a .270/.310/.441 slash line in 72 games with Toronto in the 2011-12 seasons prior to the injury, which put him at risk of paralysis prior to the operation.